Chemical Hygiene Plan

Chemical Hygiene Plan

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires laboratories using hazardous chemicals to develop and implement a written Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP). This plan must include provisions for protecting employees from the health hazards associated with chemicals in the laboratory and maintaining employee exposure to chemicals below the Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL's).

The OSHA Lab Standard defines the basic elements of a Chemical Hygiene Plan. University-wide procedures address many of these elements. The Chemical Safety section of the Laboratory Safety Manual contains many general safety procedures for chemical laboratories.

However, because of the diverse nature of the teaching, research, and clinical programs at the University of Louisville, general procedures cannot address all potential chemical hazards. Each laboratory unit is required to complete additional elements of the Chemical Hygiene Plan. These lab-specific elements, combined with the Chemical Safety section of the Lab Safety Manual, comprise a comprehensive Chemical Hygiene Plan.

Requirements for Annual Review

The Faculty/Principal Investigator should review the following items at least annually:

• Chemical Hygiene Plan: review and update, if necessary, particularly internal lab responsibilities, operations/procedures requiring prior approval, and SDS.
• Chemical Inventory: delete items that are no longer available in the lab, add new items to the inventory.
• Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs) for highly hazardous chemicals: assure that existing SOPs are up to date and that an SOP is available for each highly hazardous chemical in use.